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Law and Business Dynamics

Posted October 24th, 2017

Often in-house attorneys are seen as roadblocks to the department’s goals, yet legal plays an important role in all of the different departments of the company. They can bring a high-level of success to the company by being a vital contributor to their division’s mission. Here’s how in-house attorneys can contribute to their team and become an indispensable member of the company as a whole.

Sales and Marketing

Legal can and should help push forward potential deals for the sales team. A good corporate M&A attorney can generate business or new opportunities for the company by acquiring good companies that add to the bottom line. They look for opportunities to purchase other companies, to be acquired by larger companies, or to do joint ventures with other companies. In addition, corporate counsels can make or break the sales process during the contract review process. The best attorneys see themselves as facilitators of the sales process and not just compliance enforcement. Legal professionals are an integral part of this process. Understanding your role and how to best support the team is critical. Legal can also:

Keep projects from becoming bottlenecked.

Streamline procedures.

Flesh out ideas.

Offer sound advice.

Human Resources

Attorneys are vital to the mission of the Human Resources Department. It’s important for attorneys to be detail oriented, yet not get lost in the details. In addition to thinking about the negative contingencies of hiring and employment, be sure to consider the possibilities as well. If you’re too strict or rigid in your HR policies, then you’ll lose your most important asset – people!

Remain flexible where possible.

Don’t just think of what can go wrong.

Consider ideas and possibilities.

Keep a big picture view.

You won’t be able to recruit the best with incredibly strict HR Policies.

Research and Development

The people involved in Research and Development are idea-oriented and can benefit from a talented attorney. IP attorneys are usually integral to this process, along with corporate and compliance attorneys. In this role, you can help create a clear path to the market for new products and services.

Strike a balance between risk-taking and compliance.

Ensure the product or service developed is valuable and marketable.

Protect ideas but don’t be so rigid that it inhibits commercialization.

Encourage and foster creativity and new ideas.

Executive Functions and the C-Suite

A great in-house attorney can be a vital asset to the executive team through being an advisor and facilitator. Be the person or department that people go to for their feedback and ability to make things happen. Become a facilitator who is indispensable to the CEO and the entire executive team. When legal works effectively with management, it impacts everyone down the line. Their actions ripple out and touch everyone in some way. In this role as trusted advisor, you can be a true agent of change.

Be introspective, and understand your role and how it affects the company.

Provide expeditious advice that allows the executive team to accomplish its goals.

Share ideas with the executive team to make initiatives more efficient and effective.

Support your advice with alternative solutions and ideas.

Is your company utilizing your talent?

If you’re providing a lot of value, and your company isn’t able to utilize your talent and skills – is it time for you to consider a new opportunity? At Quaero Group we work with top companies nationwide, and we can be a resource to help you to find interesting, lucrative, and meaningful work in an in-house counsel position. Contact us to talk about your options.

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Hi Patrick, Just wanted to send you a quick note to (for the millionth time) thank you for your role in placing Bill with [Renewable Energy Company]. He is amazing, and I think I speak for both [the CEO] and me when I say that he could be the very best hire we’ve ever made. If you ever have a potential client that would like a to talk to a past client about their experience, please feel free to give them my name and number.